Plantation owner had a vision for Amelia Island

Friday

Dec 12, 2008 at 10:47 AM

Richard L. (Dick) Cooper, developer, businessman, and owner of Amelia Island Plantation, died Sunday. He was 82.His vision and commitment to the beauty of Amelia Island were the foundation for Amelia Island Plantation. In 1977, Mr. Cooper began working on a master plan to pull Amelia Island Plantation out of financial difficulties, which Marriott and Club Corp. had been unable to do. He approached nine banks that owned and controlled the land, assets and facilities for Amelia.In June 1978, Mr. Cooper acquired all of the properties and facilities involved and formed a new management team. In 1979, Mr. Cooper and his team broke ground on a new conference center and oceanfront luxury condominium units. He and his team continued to adapt to the changing financial times when, in 1986, tax law changes required a new business model. At that time, the resort changed from rental condominiums to end-user villas and single-family lots around the Long Point golf course. It also necessitated the company's development of its own Amelia Inn, with its 249 all-oceanfront rooms and 19,000 additional square feet of conference space.Since then, Amelia Island Plantation has continued to develop real estate, expand its resort facilities, conference space and golf courses."Dick Cooper kept the vision of Charles Fraser alive," Jack Healan, president of Amelia Island Co., said. "He was an amazing person and a savvy businessman whose heart and soul went into the beauty that is Amelia Island Plantation. We will miss his presence and his thoughtful leadership."Mr. Cooper was born in Columbus, Ohio, graduated from Central High School in 1944, and joined the Signal Corps in the U.S. Army. After his discharge in 1946, Mr. Cooper entered Ohio State University, graduating magna cum laude in sales management. He began his career in the coal industry with New York Coal Sales Co.He and his wife, Jeanne, were married in 1950. His two children, Rick and Diane, now hold a lead role in the equity management of Amelia Island Plantation."My father showed us how to be a good businessman and a good steward of nature," said Rick Cooper, the Cooper family's representative for Amelia Island Plantation. "He spent his adult life building outstanding businesses, where his handshake was his word. He made sure his family and his management team lived those ethical standards, and he ensured that Amelia Island Plantation would run that way."Mr. Cooper spent most of his adult life in the sale and contracting of coal purchasing. He served as general sales manager for New York Coal and Sunnyhill Coal, after its purchase of New York Coal, and finally Monongahela & Ohio Coal. In 1961, he bought Black Star Coal in Louisville, Ky., with two partners. They grew the company into one of the largest purveyors of high-quality coal until selling the company in 1966. In that year, Mr. Cooper formed his own sales company, Lakeway Fuel Corp. After developing mines in Eastern Kentucky, and developed ownership in coal properties, tipples and loading facilities, Mr. Cooper established a staff in eastern Kentucky as part of Lakeway Fuel.He is survived by his wife, Jeanne; his children, Rick (Suzanne) Cooper and Diane (Craig) Miller; his grandchildren, Jessica (Robert) Sloan, Benjamin Cooper, Shane (Nicole) Murton and Zachary Cooper; great-grandchildren, Madison and Robbie Sloan and Jackson Murton; and brother Gary (Ruth) Cooper.A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. today at the conference center at Amelia Island Plantation. Burial will be in Lakewood Park Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio, Dec. 20. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Nassau County.

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